A/N: Yes, you see right, the next chapter is already up! Since it seemed like most of you didn't really like the last one, I still want to thank the people who wrote reviews :) You are awesome!
I really hope you like this one better. There is a lot from the movie included, so I hope you'll recognize some scenes and have fun with reading :)
By the way, some people keep asking in their comments for other stories with Lisbon as a hooker. I'm really sorry, but mine is the only one I know, so please don't use my reviews as some kind of "askbox", that would be really nice :)
Have fun now!

(6)

Teresa took the elevator down to the lobby and stepped out, once again stunned by the wealthy looks of the hotel. She never thought she'd be allowed to visit such a hotel, let alone living in it for a certain amount of time. Well, she could worry about that and other stuff later, for now she needed to go to "Rodeo Drive", like Jane told her to, to find an appropriate dress for the evening.

Since she was new in town and didn't have time to get lost, the brunette went over to the reception desk and leaned on it, waiting for the woman behind it to recognize her. The woman looked up, raised an eyebrow and looked down again, before she cleared her throat and but whatever she was doing aside.

Teresa hated the superior look she gave her, but she was used to it. This wouldn't be the last time people looked down on her… She didn't look that slutty, did she?

"How can I help you, Miss?", the woman asked overly friendly.

"Could you tell me how to get to Rodeo Drive, please? I mean do you have a map or something?" Teresa was eyed suspiciously, but the woman turned around to get a map out of one of the drawers, hesitating to give it to her.

"Excuse me, but may I have your name and room number, please?"

"I'm staying with Mr. Patrick Jane. I don't know which room number that is. Can't you just give me the map? I can help myself."

The woman laid the map down next to the computer keys and smiled: "I'm sorry, Miss, but I would like to check this information first. It only takes a minute."

Teresa rolled her eyes, holding up her hands: "You know what, just leave it. I'll find this damn street on my own." Without looking back, she turned around grumpily and went out of the hotel, the man at the front entrance greeting her with a surprised expression on his face.

The woman at the reception desk watched her leave and put the map back to the others in her drawer. She stiffened, when her boss attended the desk. "Mr. Bosco", she greeted him with a nod of her head, "You're back from your vacation."

"I am, Cleo. Would you please tell me what the woman who was just standing here wanted?"

Cleo frowned in surprise, since her boss had seen her interact with the young brunette. "Uhm, she wanted to have a map of LA, but I was a little surprised of her attire, so I thought she just sneaked in… When she told me she was staying with Mr. Jane, it made me a little suspicious. Did… Did I do something wrong?"

Bosco put up a friendly face: "The next time she enters the building, would you please call me immediately? I would like to speak to her."

"Of course, Mr. Bosco", Cleo answered though a little confused about her boss's order.

"Thank you. Keep up the good work", he said before turning around.

She wanted to hit something. Why was this world so superficial and judgemental, why? She didn't do anything to that woman at the reception desk, but she'd treated her like she was the plague!

Breathe, Teresa, she told herself and stopped in front of a shop window. The sun was standing in a weird ankle, so she could see her reflection in the window better than the outlaid clothes. Did she have a sign on her forehead, screaming "hooker" to everyone who was looking at her? Was it about the way she dressed, the way she moved?

Seeing herself in the reflection like this made her even angrier. It wasn't her fault fate had thrown nothing but stones in her way, but she was strong and she was who she was. Sighing, she turned away from the window. This wouldn't be the last time people would be reacting like this when they saw her. Damn, she should simply get used to it.

Teresa decided to ask some people on the street how to get to Rodeo Drive. Since most of them were tourists and had a map with them, they gave her a vague direction in bad English and went on. In the end it wasn't as difficult to find it as she first thought.

During her time in Vegas, she'd heard a lot about people going shopping on Rodeo Drive and maxing out their credit cards, but she never thought they were telling the truth. Both sides of the street were full of Italian designer boutiques, the best French fashion and world-class jewellers.

She passed a few women, who were holding like a thousand shopping bags as you could often see in the movies, laughing and being happy. It seemed like shopping really was as good as sex for some women. A few limousines passed her and one stopped in front of a store with a red carpet in front of it.

Teresa was roughly pushed aside, when a few paparazzi with their cameras rushed after it, stopping next to the limousine and waiting for a woman to exit it. They called her name, taking lots of pictures, their flashes blinding the poor woman, who was trying desperately to escape them.

Although she didn't know her, Teresa felt immediately sorry for her. Every girl dreamed of fame, but only few thought about that it always came with a price. You had no private life; every step you made was watched by paparazzi and the public. Of course, one would be rich and have lots of money, but was it really worth it?

She sighed, turning away from the scene in front of her. Her life hadn't been any better over the last two years. By signing the contract with Red John, she agreed on being constantly watched by one of his handymen or his headmistress Lorelei, knowing she couldn't escape them. Hell she couldn't really believe all of this here would work out fine in the end, but she pushed this thought quickly aside.

It had to work, it just had to. She should ask Patrick if he was often followed by paparazzi, because she couldn't risk of showing up beside him in a newspaper article. Even if she changed her looks, some people could recognize her.

At the dinner tonight probably wouldn't be any photographers, so she didn't have to worry about that at the moment.

She walked across the stores, checking the windows out for pretty clothes. Most of it was really not her style and overly expensive. Even if Jane gave her that little golden plastic card, she didn't have to take advantage of it. Since it was really difficult to decide where to go first, Teresa picked the next three stores and decided via eeny-meeny-miny-moo. She just had a little less than three hours left.

Teresa took a deep breath and walked into the store, which had no customers at the moment. Three women, perfectly styled were working in there, one as the cashier, one rearranging outlaid clothes and the other one just stood there, watching over her two colleagues.

Ignoring the looks the three women exchanged, Teresa looked around and saw a simple grey dress combination with a black belt on one of the puppets in the room.

Finally – it felt like an eternity – one of the women decided to step a little closer, her chin high and her hand resting on each side of her hips. "May I help you somehow?"

"Uh… yes." She would need help to find an appropriate piece of clothing and knew from TV that this weren't stores like Primark, where everyone could just get in and grab what he liked. Why was it that these women made her feel so uncomfortable?

"Well and how may I help you?", the woman continued, a cold annoyance in her voice. The two other ones behind the cashier and the counters came closer. By almost standing together they built up some kind of physical wall.

"I uh…", Teresa looked around and pointed towards the grey dress, "Would like to know how much this costs."

Again, the three saleswomen exchanged looks, before the one from behind the cashier said: "I'm afraid this dress might be out of your price range."

"Excuse me?", the little brunette asked surprised.

"This dress is out of your price range", the woman repeated, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Well how about you let me be the judge of that?!", Teresa answered, "I would like to know how much this dress is, it is none of your business if it's in my price class or not!"

"I am very sorry, but we're not sure we have anything for you in this store", one of them said, pointing towards the door, "Please, if you would be so kind and leave now, we have work to do."

"Is that how you treat your customers?!" They couldn't be serious, could they?

"We are very sorry", one of the women explained, walking over to the doors and pulling one open. The pairs of eyes watched her every move like hawks a little mouse. Without another word, Teresa turned around and left the store, feeling their judgemental looks on her back and hearing their laughter after the doors were closed.

She wanted to cry. Yes, she was used to people being judgemental and full of prejudice towards her, but never ever in her life had anyone treated her like a worthless piece of shit like those three women just had. They didn't even know her! Maybe she should have flashed Jane's credit card right in the beginning, but they would have judged her anyways.

Why, why was this world so damn superficial and blinded? Balling her hands into fists, Teresa walked back down the street, the way she came from. Don't cry, it isn't worth it, she told herself, but she couldn't help that one little tear escaped the corner of her eye.

All she wanted to have was a stupid dress; it couldn't be that hard, could it? Well after this disaster, she really didn't want to go anywhere but into their hotel room and throw herself on the large bed. Jane would have to attend this stupid dinner on his own. She didn't have any clue how to pretend to be a fine lady anyways!

He was better off without her. Perhaps it would be better to leave, take the next train back to Las Vegas and get back to the "Red Mill" right before anyone would have realized she'd gone missing.

What the hell are you thinking, you idiot!, she told herself, this is your chance, so don't screw it up! Taking a deep breath, the brunette wiped the tear away and went back to the hotel. She could tell Jane she hadn't found anything, maybe even the truth that the women in the store didn't want to sell her anything. He would understand, right?

Cho stopped the car right in front of the tall glass building, the headquarters of Mashburn's company.

"Thanks for the ride, Cho, it's been a pleasure as always", Jane said and shook the driver's hand, putting a 50 dollar note into his front pocket. Cho nodded his thanks and got back into the car, waiting for his boss to call him in for the next assignment. Somehow he was sure this wouldn't be the last time he saw Mr. Jane and the lovely Miss Teresa. But for now he had to catch up on some much needed sleep he didn't get during his stay in the hospital with Summer.

Jane straightened his suit jacket and went inside the building, taking the elevators to go straight up to the floor where Mashburn's luxurious office was located. He really hoped Teresa had a good time while shopping a dress for dinner in the evening. Maybe she helped herself to some other clothes, too, although he hadn't specifically told her to get a new attire for the time she was staying with him.

The elevator door pinged open and he got out, seeing Mashburn's lovely secretary Sarah sitting on her desk and waving him when he came closer.

"Mr. Jane, it's so nice seeing you again. Mr. Mashburn is already waiting for you and I got orders to send you right through." Since she knew Jane always preferred to help himself, instead of having Sarah to get up for him, she pointed towards the heavy wood doors which marked the entrance to Mashburn's office. He smiled at her and quickly entered the room.

"Patrick!", Mashburn greeted him cheerfully, "I'm surprised you made it in time. How did it go with Bajoran?"

Jane smirked before he took a crystal glass from the stand and poured himself a glass of scotch to demonstrate his victory. "Well, Walter, I'd say you achieved your goal. He's was furious you didn't come like all of this was some kind of game for you and you didn't take the victory over his company serious in the end."

Walter laughed: "Just like we said. On a scale from one to ten, how furious was he exactly?"

"I'm afraid you won't get the pleasure of having the old desk he has at his office. The one you wanted for your home office, remember? After I left he destroyed his office, calling you names even I didn't knew existed. You got him bad, Walter. But that's what you wanted, right?"

Mashburn shrugged and stood up to pour himself a glass of scotch just like Jane had before, to celebrate. "Cheers, my friend. I'm glad I sent you for that assignment. Everything worked out just the way I wanted. But tell me, how was the rest of your visit to Vegas? Did they throw you out of the casinos?"

Jane leaned back in his chair, taking a sip of his drink. In the end, he was glad he hadn't gone to a casino, because if he had, he'd never have met Teresa. Thank god Cho had known about the "Red Mill" in the first place. "My visit was good indeed. I made a lot of interesting... Let's call it experiences."

"Oh apropos interesting experiences", the dark haired man grinned, "I had a very amusing phone call with your ex-girlfriend."

Jane raised an eyebrow, surprised about Mashburn's news. "You talked to Erica? What did she want?"

"She wanted to know how to reach you, because you wouldn't pick up your phone when she called."

"Maybe that's because I don't have anything to tell her?", the blond answered. He had hoped the break up with Erica would be easy, but it seems like he'd been wrong. Some women just didn't understand when it was time to let go.

"That poor woman, really Patrick. She was so upset with you, told me to tell you she didn't mean it and so on..."

"Well what did you tell her?", Jane asked curiously. The grin on his boss's face told him Mashburn enjoyed this moment entirely too much.

"I told her I couldn't speak for you, but if she needed a strong shoulder to cry on, she was welcome to visit me any time." The mischievous look he gave him, made Jane roll his eyes.

"I thought you had enough of her when you almost married her three years ago, Walter."

"I had enough of her talking, the sex has always been great. You must know, Patrick, you've had her plenty of times I suppose..." He waited for Jane's reaction, but the man on the other side of his desk remained silent.

"Well, I'm glad your visit to Vegas was successful, but what's with tonight? Do you think you can persuade good old Minelli into selling us his little company? I heard Ray Haffner had a meeting with him yesterday and it went really bad." Mashburn couldn't hide the grin on his face. "I hope that just means we'll be more lucky tonight. I count on you, Paddy. Oh by the way, I got a lovely lady to accompany you to the dinner tonight. Her name is Leslie and she has certain skills that will make you become wax in her hands not just during, but also after dinner. Consider it as a little thank you from me to you."

This time it was Jane's turn to flash his boss and friend a patronizing smile, shaking his head: "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Walter, but I already have someone to accompany me tonight."

"You do?", the brunet man asked in surprise and leaned closer towards Jane, folding his hands, "who is she? Do I know her?"

"No you don't and you don't have to, Walter, at least not now. I might introduce the two of you when the time is right."

"Oh, are you afraid I might steal her away from you?", he laughed, but Jane shook his head once again.

"I'm just afraid she might punch you in the nose if you're getting on her nerves with your macho like behavior for too long." Jane remembered the hard punch she gave him by accident, when he followed her out of the alley last night. He didn't doubt she would hit Mashburn if necessary.

"Oh, a little firecracker you have there. Well Patrick, I can't wait to meet her. But you can tell me her name, can't you? Or does that reveal to your little secret?"

"Her name is Teresa", he answered, "but enough of this. I thought you wanted me to come by, because you had to talk the plan through with me on how to approach Minelli."

Mashburn didn't seem to be please with that little information of Jane's mysterious company, but the blond man was right, he needed to explain everything to Jane about the deal with Minelli's company.

While walking back to the hotel, Teresa thought about every possible scenario on how to explain Jane she hadn't been able to find a dress and instead of trying again, she'd gone home. Well, maybe she would have tried out a second hand store, but her mood was so low, she wouldn't take a stupid dress if anyone would throw it at her.

Angrily, she stormed the stairs up, rushing to the front entrance doors, that a guy in a red uniform was holding up for her. He nodded friendly, but she didn't repeat it.

"Excuse me, Miss? Miss!", the woman at the reception desk, who hadn't been able to give her a map earlier called her. Teresa thought about showing her the finger, but she rolled her eyes and stopped, walking over to the desk.

"What?!", she asked annoyed.

Cleo opened her mouth and closed it again, as if not really certain what to say. It was just then, when Mr. Bosco appeared out of the blue, touching Teresa's shoulder gently. "I am sorry to interrupt, Miss, but I would like you to follow me for a few moments."

"Listen, I really don't have the time, Mister. I have to…" Bosco put an arm on the small of her back, pushing her forward. She bushed the hand off, wanting to leave, but he grabbed her upper arm, looking her deep in the eye. "Please, Miss. We can do this the easy way or I can call security service, what would you prefer?"

Teresa gave him a hatred look but followed him towards the direction he indicated. They went into a small office, saying "Samuel Bosco – Manager". Bosco pointed towards a chair, where the brunette could sit down. Not sure what the next step of his plan was, the manager leaned against his desk, watching her with a certain interest.

She didn't feel comfortable, but she tried to ignore it, looking at the pictures on the wall. What did this guy want? She hadn't done anything wrong, had she? This was ridiculous! Was every single human being in the world against her today? Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Bosco cleared his throat and started talking.

"Now, Miss… what was your name again?"

"Well you didn't ask, before you forced me in here", Teresa answered sassily. Bosco gave her a look saying "don't play with me", so she added quietly: "But my name is Teresa." Bosco nodded it off, analyzing her once more.

"Well, Miss Teresa, as you might have realized, our hotel is a very high class hotel."

"I know that, I'm staying with Mr. Jane", she said annoyed, "I you don't believe him, call him."

"Oh I believe you, that's not the point. You know, Mr. Jane is a special kind of customer and as a hotel in our league, we see special customers as some kind of friends. As a friend, out hotel is willing to overlook some things, things like you, Miss Teresa. So since you're staying with him I guess you are some kind of… relative?"

Teresa stared at him, not believing what she just heard. Was this man serious? She realized she was looking at him with her mouth open, so she shut it, her eyes still wide. Should she just play along? Somehow she didn't thing this guy wanted her any harm, or he'd have called the cops or security service how he'd called it already.

"Is it so obvious I'm a hooker?!", she asked sadly. For a second she thought to see a hint of pity in his eyes, but he shook his head.

"Let's forget you just said that. Relative. I was asking you if you were some kind of relative, his… niece for example. Just nod, if your okay with it."

"Yes… I'm… his niece", she nodded with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, that's very good. I'm glad we established this. Naturally, when Mr. Jane leaves, I can assume I won't see you in this hotel again, right? You don't have any other uncles here, do you?"

Teresa shook her head, still speechless by what Mr. Bosco was telling her. She hadn't signed up for this, when she came to LA, not a bit!

"Great, well if you want to stay here in this hotel, I would encourage you to dress a little more appropriate."

That's when it hit her. She jumped up, hands on her hips and trying to make herself tall, which was impossible with a man as tall as Bosco in front of her. "That's what I tried! Mr. Jane asked me to go and buy some clothes on fucking Rodeo Drive, he even gave me his stupid credit card!"

She pulled it out of her pocket and threw it towards Bosco, who caught it in surprise of the outburst of the little lady in front of him. "I wanted to buy stuff, I'm not stupid, I know I can't walk around here dressed like this. Even if I have to wear bourgeois clothes, I don't care! But When I walked into this store and asked these bitches how much a dress was, they kicked me out, telling me they wouldn't sell me anything! They… they… they just… I tried and I was friendly, but they were not and…"

The little brunette hid her face behind her hands and sank back into the chair, trying to suppress a sob. "Jane asked me to do one stupid thing for him and that was buying a dress. I failed, just as always. Now I have this stupid credit card but no dress to wear for dinner tonight and I don't know how to explain it to him. He's going to be so mad at me, he's going to throw me out and send me back to Vegas and…"

Suddenly, she felt a hand resting on her shoulder. Bosco was kneeling on the ground next to her, watching her with a wary look. She wasn't sure if he believed her, or if he thought this was all just some kind of show she pulled, but he reached to his pocket to give her a hanky, letting her sneeze into it and brushing away the tears. Then he stood up, walking back towards his desk, just to take the phone in his hand.

Great, he was calling the cops. Everything would be over before it even started! Again tears started to fall from her eyes, but this time Teresa tried to stay strong. If she was going to get arrested, it would be like that.

"Cleo? Connect me with Miss Madeleine, please", Bosco told the woman on the phone. Teresa looked up, confusion in her eyes. "Miss Madeleine" didn't sound like the nearest police station to her.

The manager continued: "Miss Madeleine? Yes, this is Samuel Bosco from the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. I would like you to do me a favor. I have a special guest here – actually she's the niece of a very special guest and she needs a dress for dinner tonight. Now I was asking myself, if you could work your magic on her … Alright, I'll send her over."

He hung up and stepped around the desk towards where Teresa was sitting. Bosco gave her back the golden credit card, smiling friendly: "I just had a talk with a very good friend of mine who has a boutique here in Beverly Hills. You will go there and get the dress you need for your dinner with Mr. Jane tonight, alright?"

"Are you serious?", Teresa asked surprised. She couldn't believe Mr. Bosco had just helped her for no reason. Well he had a reason, but after today, she wasn't used to people being this friendly to her, helping her with a problem.

"I am serious, Miss Teresa. Now would you please make sure you get this dress in time? A limousine will be waiting for you once you got out of the building."

She jumped up and ran towards the door, almost bumping into him: "I will! Thank you!" With this, the petite brunette vanished, leaving Bosco behind, who was shaking his head and suppressing a smile.

Xxxxx

About fifteen minutes later, the chauffeur of the limousine told Teresa they reached their final destination. She got out, all excited over the big building and the tall, chocolate skinned woman who was standing in front of it, seeming to wait for someone.

The minute she saw her, the woman came towards Teresa, reaching out to take her hand: "Oh you must be Miss Teresa, right? My name is Madeleine Hightower, but you can call me Madeleine. Sam called and let me know you need a dress?"

She nodded and let the woman lead her into the building, which smelled a little like vanilla mixed with flowers. There were the finest clothes everywhere, so Teresa almost took a step back, because it was so overwhelming.

"So, the dress", Madeleine began, "Tell me, dear, where are you going tonight? A date, dancing, to the opera…?"

"Dinner", the petite brunette said, "We're… going to dinner."

"Oh that is great, so you need a cocktail dress." She lead Teresa through half of the building into a separated area full of dresses and evening gowns. "You're a size 6, right?"

"How do you know?"

Madeleine smiled sweetly at her and grinned: "That's my job. Oh, I have just the right thing for you, you're going to look fantastic in it, you uncle will be amazed!"

Uncle? Oh yeah right, people thought Jane was her uncle. "Uhm…", Teresa mumbled, "Madeleine, Mr. Jane isn't really my uncle, you know…"

The woman laughed out loud, before she laid a hand on Teresa's shoulder, looking her deep in the eye: "They never are, my dear, but I don't care about that. You seem like a nice girl and I know Sam wouldn't have sent me to you if he didn't like you, so don't you worry. Your secret is safe with me. I know Patrick Jane, very fine man by the way, he once ordered our house to have a suit tailored for him. We will find something for you, that'll blow his mind."

A/N: Yayyy we're finished! I hope you liked it as much as I did! Now… what do you think Jane is going to say to Teresa in a dress? What do you think of the new characters I introduced, especially Bosco? :)

Since there may be some of you who haven't wanted 6x06 last week already, I wish you lots of fun! Oh and please don't forget to vote for The Mentalist at the PCA's! You can join us on twitter, download the app for the iphone or simply vote via facebook or the original website! (I highly recommend the app, because it's the fastest way of voting)
Now if you liked the chapter, make sure to log in and leave a review – I know I've been lazy which answering lately, but I try to get better! Until next time…